Light and Vision
'Light' There are four different light Levels in Mystech. Each Level of increasing Brightness '''makes it more and more difficult to see without eye protection. There are also four Levels of '''Darkness that make it more difficult to see without optics or a light source. Brightness: -1 to strike per level Darkness: – 1 to strike per level Lights Eliminate the penalties for natural Darkness regardless of the Level of the Darkness. Artificial (magically or technologically created) Darkness will have special rules regarding its effect on light. Light Ranges '– Many lights have multiple ranges. The first range designates the brightly lit area and the second range indicates an area of dim (Darkness Level 2) light. 'Blindness Some effects may cause a character to become Blind. Being Blind in a fight imparts some severe challenges. Defending without being able to see your opponent is very difficult. All rolls to defend are made with a -4 penalty. Attacking while blind is even more difficult. In order to attack the character must first locate their opponent with a Perception check. This check is made slightly easier if the opponent has attacked the poor blind bastard (+ 20 % if attacked Close Quarters, + 10 % if attacked with range weapons). If the character fails the check they have no idea where their intended victim is. If the character's check is successful they can Strike but they are Striking with -4 modifier. 'Optics' Most optics offset the penalties from Darkness or Brightness. But some modify the existing light for the character equipped with the optics. Armor and vehicles will often be equipped with High-Tech Optics Systems. While it may be possible to have more than a single Optic System installed only one can be in use at a time. Switching between optics systems in combat requires an action (speed factor 3) and a successful Operate Sensors check. 'Advanced Optics' Optics Active optics that are used to see in poor light or even complete darkness. It reduces the penalties from darkness by 1 at levels 1, 4, 7 and 10. Advanced optics are Active Optics so they usually are limited to a cone area or have small radii. 'Low Light Vision' Optics Low Light Vision (LLV) increases the effective area of visible lights. The radius of all lights visible to any character with LLV is increased based on the level of the LLV multiply light radii by 1.5 at level 1, 2 at level 4, 2.5 at level 7 , and 3 at level 10. 'Sensors' Optics Any form of instrument or organ that can detect any movement and the presence of heat sources is considered a Sensor. Reduce the penalty to strike form Darkness, Screens and Cloaking by 1 @ levels 1, 4, 7, and 10. It is good to note that while this is a handy Option for fighting in less than optimal lighting conditions it doesn't help the Character to see where it is going. 'Magnification' Magnification is a property applied to optics, targeting and Spells. For each rank of magnification (Mag) reduce the Natural roll required for a successful strike or DF check by 1(to a Min of 1). This ability can only be used to offset the penalty from Long Range. For example a character attempting to make a strike from 63 hexes away would normally require a Natural roll greater than 6 to hit their target. If they had a scope on their weapon with Mag2 they would only need to roll greater than a natural 4 to hit. 'Cloaking' Cloaked characters are difficult to see. Cloaking can be provided through a variety of means such as Cloaking fields and the magic spell Cloak of Obfuscation. Cloaked Characters cannot be attacked unless a Perception Check is made. Every time a Cloaked Character gives away their position, (i.e. attacks, sneezes, opens a door, etc.), any witnesses can make a Perception Check to attempt to figure out where the Cloaked Character is located. If the Perception Check is successful then the witness can tell where the cloaked character is. Any character trying to strike a Cloaked character will take a penalty to their Strike roll of -1 at levels 1, 4, 7, and 10 of the Cloaking. 'Flash Protection' A photo sensitive material that mitigates penalties from Brightness. Reduce penalties from Brightness by 1 at levels 1,4,7 and 10.